Since I won't be around for the next few days, I decided it would be cruel to make you guys wait for the next chapter! Especially after that cliffhanger!

And as I said before, be prepared for the ridiculous amount of fluff coming in the foreseeable future.

I don't own Marvel, etc.

"YOU were supposed to be there to watch her back!" Natasha heard a familiar voice growl as her eyes flittered open.

She was in a hospital room- or rather, a SHIELD recovery room. Five different tubes and wires extended from her arm, connected to various monitors and IVs. Just outside of her room, through the thin papery curtain covering her window, she could make out three figures; one stood apart from the other two, jabbing a pointed finger. She squeezed her eyes closed again, probing her mind, trying to connect the events that lead her to be pay a visit to the white walled, sterile smelling wing of the helicarrier.

"I was finishing the mission!" A voice that could belong to none other than Tony Stark shouted back. "I needed to set the charge and-"

"She could have died!" Clint barked back.

"Don't you think I know that!"

"I think you need reminding!"

"Guys!" she heard Steve cut in to defuse the situation, "Look, the doctor said she'll be fine and the baby wasn't hurt so-"

Her breath caught in her throat. The baby! Her hands instantly dropped down to her stomach.

"-everything is going to be okay. It's not anybody's fault."

She suddenly remembered everything: the dizziness, the first guard with the knife, the second guard, the agonizing pain...

But none of that seemed to matter anymore. She could have lost the baby.

Clint's baby.

Her baby.

Just like that.

A blonde nurse in navy blue scrubs burst into the room, out of breath as she swung the thin metal door open wide. "Is everything alright, Agent Romanoff?"

It was only then that Natasha heard the frantic beeping of the heart monitor she was attached to. She nodded quickly, working to steady her breathing to a much slower pace. The nurse gave her a look before double checking the connections.

"You're very lucky," the nurse told her with a hospitable smile.

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows and asked if she could have visitors. Her voice was scratchy and hoarse and she could feel the bruises enveloping her neck as she spoke.

"Director Fury would like to see you first," the nurse informed her before inclining her head and retreating from the room.

Natasha groaned quietly to herself when she was alone again. There are only two reasons the Director would visit her in recovery: either he needed to conduct a special debriefing or he was going to put her on maternity. And at the moment, the latter seemed like the more obvious option. Fuck. It was going to happen eventually and definitely in the near future, but Natasha had just hoped to squeeze in a couple more missions.

The door handle shook and Natasha braced herself. But she wasn't expecting who walked through the door.

"Agent Barton, you can't go in there!" she heard a nurse cry as Clint stormed into her room.

"Like hell I can't!" he shouted back over his shoulder, ignoring the continued protests from the staff. He rolled a chair beside her bed and plopped down in it, leaning over to kiss her forehead, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she whispered, the slightest smile forming on her lips.

Clint let out a laugh and sunk into the chair, "You scared the shit out of me, you know."

"Sorry," she whispered again in the raspy tone that was all she could manage.

He smiled and pulled her hand to his lips. They stayed like that in silence until Director Fury walked in.

"Relax Agent, "he ordered when Clint stood to leave, "I was going to call you in anyway since I guess this involves the both of you."

"Sir," Clint nodded, returning to his seat.

"Agent Romanoff," the Director began, "I've been informed of some news pertaining your health. Would you like to confirm or deny these claims?"

"Confirm, sir," she replied in as smooth voice as possible.

Fury sighed loudly before speaking again. "You know our policy regarding pregnancy, Agent." Natasha nodded. "After your debriefing on the successful mission of Operation: Sandy Palm, you will be put on maternity leave. You will be authorized to return two months after giving birth, but only if the board sees fit. Is that understood, Miss Romanoff?"

"Crystal, sir,"

"Very well," Fury nodded, turning to leave, "You will be discharged tomorrow at oh-nine hundred hours, followed by your debriefing. And Agent Barton," he turned to the archer, "In Agent Romanoff's absence, you will be given the cases that would normally fall to her."

Clint's eyes shot open, "I'm not going to have to seduce any rich guys, am I?"

But the Director only smiled as he closed the door behind him.

Clint found Tony the next day reclined on a couch in the Recovery waiting lounge after his debriefing, typing feverishly on his cellphone.

"Hey Stark," he called as he sauntered over to the billionaire. But when Tony didn't look up, Clint called for him again, "Hey, Iron Ass!"

Tony glanced over his shoulder to see Barton lean his elbows against the couch.

"Look," Clint started, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier. I was just so... so..."

A pat on his shoulder told him that no hard feelings were harbored. Tony stowed his gadget and walked over to stand beside the archer.

"Apology accepted, Merida," Tony grinned. Then he clapped his hands together triumphantly. "That's what you should call her!"

"Call who?" the archer asked confusedly.

"Your kid!" Tony exclaimed excitedly, "With Romanoff's hair and your... bow-ness, all she'll be missing is the thick Scottish accent. It's perfect!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Clint chuckled.

From where they were standing, they could see into the recovery room lobby as Natasha being rolled out by a blonde nurse. The nurse then handed the Black Widow a book: What to Expect When You're Expecting.

"I don't envy you buddy," Tony said suddenly, resting a hand on Hawkeye's shoulder as they watched Natasha flip through the pages, "Get ready for nine months of crying and cravings. And what's worse is that she probably knows at least fifteen ways to kill you with that pregnancy book if she gets pissed enough." He patted his shoulder again before turning to leave. "Have fun. Oh and if Pepper starts talking about kids after this, I'm coming after you."

Clint open his mouth to call something back to him but at that moment Natasha made a loud and terrifying demand about a gallon of Häagen Dazs needing to be in front of her in five minutes or she'll break somebody's neck. The three SHIELD agents that were in the room paused for a moment, looking between themselves, before quickly scattering in search of what the pregnant Widow requested.

Clint bit his lip. "Hey Iron Ass," he pivoted on his heels and trailed after Tony, "wait up!"

Arm hanging off the side of the couch, Natasha lay on her side, her feet against the back of the couch, mindlessly flipping through the channels on her unnecessarily large HDTV in her Stark Tower apartment. She'd been in that position for hours, afraid to move her back even slightly. Pregnancy meant no strong pain medications, and the handful of aspirin she popped an hour ago just wasn't cutting it.

Around this time after a trip to the recovery room, she'd usually have a bottle of vodka at her side accompanied by a six pack or two. But pregnancy also meant no alcohol. She sighed heavily as she continued to zip through the over two thousand channels at her disposal.

Eventually, she settled on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was still rolling through the opening credits. Content, she released the remote onto the ground below her hand and watched as Indiana Jones tried to outsmart the ancient Peruvian booby-traps.

The front door squeaked open just as Indy and Marion got into a street tussle in the middle of Cairo. Natasha leaned over to pause the movie before craning her neck over the arm of the couch to see Clint saunter into the room.

"Oooh, Raiders?" he hummed in approval as he greeted her with a kiss.

"Mmhm," she replied, "Come watch with me."

"I would...but I have nowhere to sit; you're taking up the whole couch," he smirked, walking over to the refrigerator to grab a beer.

"I can't move," she grumbled into the couch cushion.

Clint stifled a laugh and stopped in front of her. "Here, just lift your head up." She did as he requested, ignoring the stabbing pain in her back as she propped herself up on her elbow. He then slid into the opening she created. "Okay, you're good."

Natasha slowly brought her head down to rest on his leg before reaching down to grab the remote. They watched in silence, and Clint alternated between running his hand over her hair and sliding his thumb gently over the newly forming scar across her cheek.

Before the Ark was packed in the giant government warehouse, Clint heard light snores erupt from the bruised and beautiful figure beside him. He couldn't bring himself to risk waking her so he stayed as he was, sacrificing the comfort of his bed to watching Temple of Doom until he too fell asleep.

And when Natasha awoke the next morning as the sun glittered to life in the sky, he was still in the same position, only with his head reclined against the back of the couch and his jaw slacked open. A smile twitched at her lips as she leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek. As he stirred awake, she rested her head on his shoulder and switched on Blade Runner. He smiled and kissed the top of her head before stretching his arms and settling in for another movie.

Who doesn't love Harrison Ford? Happy belated birthday to him!

Anyway... get ready for growing bellies and fluffy interactions from all of the Avengers. It's like they're one big happy family! And now we get to follow not only Natasha and Clint, but the rest of the team too on the wild roller coaster that is pregnancy.

Let me know what you thought!